UnitedHealthcare Wins $5.2M in Grants to California Nonprofits

Two Northern California nonprofit hospitals have been awarded a total of $806,500 in grants from UnitedHealthcare to help improve health care services and wellness programs for local patients and community residents. The grants are part of $5.2 million UnitedHealthcare is awarding to nine health care organizations to support nonprofit clinics and hospitals that improve health care services for underserved communities statewide. Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Foundation ($699,500) and Plumas District Hospital ($107,000) received the funding to support wellness and medical education programs and improve the delivery of health care services in Northern California. The announcement was made at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital in Grass Valley where community leaders participated in a check presentation and learned about how the funding will be used to expand the hospital's eClinical Works program, an initiative to expand electronic health records and health information technology systems. The grant will help Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital serve rural clinics throughout the region, providing them access to health information exchange systems and advanced technology to better serve patients. The funding is in addition to a $334,268 grant the organization received from UnitedHealthcare in 2008 that helped the hospital start its health information technology program.